DOI chapter:
Chap. III: Excursion to Beneventum - Furcæ Caudinæ - Mount Taburnus - Beneventum, its Triumphal Arch - Excursion - Nuceria - Cava - Salernum - Mount Alburnus - Pæstum, its History and Temples
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62268#0103
Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 93
bloom, the sweetness, and the fertility of its roses.
But unfortunately the flowery retreats,
Victura rosaria Psesti,
seem to have had few charms in the eyes of the
Saracens, and if possible, still fewer in those of
the Normans, who, each in their turn, plundered
Pcestum, and at length compelled its remaining*
inhabitants to abandon their ancient seat, and to
take shelter in the mountains. To them Capaccio
Vecchio, and Novo are supposed to owe their
origin ; both these towns are situate on the hills:
the latter is the residence of the bishop and chap-
ter of Pcestum.
It will naturally be asked to which of the na-
tions that were successively in possession of
Pcestum, the edifices which still subsist are to be
ascribed: not to the Romans, who never seem to
have adopted the genuine Doric style; the Sy-
barites are said to have occupied the neighboring
plain ; the Dorians therefore appear to have the
fairest claim to these majestic and everlasting
monuments. But at what period were they
erected? to judge from their form we must con-
clude that they are the oldest specimens of Gre-
cian architecture now in existence. In behold-
ing them and contemplating their solidity bor-
bloom, the sweetness, and the fertility of its roses.
But unfortunately the flowery retreats,
Victura rosaria Psesti,
seem to have had few charms in the eyes of the
Saracens, and if possible, still fewer in those of
the Normans, who, each in their turn, plundered
Pcestum, and at length compelled its remaining*
inhabitants to abandon their ancient seat, and to
take shelter in the mountains. To them Capaccio
Vecchio, and Novo are supposed to owe their
origin ; both these towns are situate on the hills:
the latter is the residence of the bishop and chap-
ter of Pcestum.
It will naturally be asked to which of the na-
tions that were successively in possession of
Pcestum, the edifices which still subsist are to be
ascribed: not to the Romans, who never seem to
have adopted the genuine Doric style; the Sy-
barites are said to have occupied the neighboring
plain ; the Dorians therefore appear to have the
fairest claim to these majestic and everlasting
monuments. But at what period were they
erected? to judge from their form we must con-
clude that they are the oldest specimens of Gre-
cian architecture now in existence. In behold-
ing them and contemplating their solidity bor-